Brian Taylor (jockey)

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Brian Taylor (戴萊) was a successful jockey from Great Britain, who rode Snow Knight to victory in the 1974 Epsom Derby.

Unfortunately, while racing at the Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong on December 8, 1984, his mount, White Star (銀星一號), stumbled (some say it did so intentionally), throwing the luckless jockey off his saddle while crossing the finish line. Taylor would succumb to the serious neck and head injuries received two days later in hospital.

Taylor was suffering from flu that day, and wanted someone else to replace him for that fateful race. But in the last minute he decided to do the race himself which, sadly, turned out to be his last one ever.

Less than 10 months before Taylor's fall, White Star also ended the career of another top jockey at the time, Frenchman Philippe Paquet, by throwing the jockey onto the turf during morning training on February 13, 1984, in similar fashion. Paquet would suffer a fractured skull, and remain in a coma for more than three months before regaining consciousness.